Latest News: New Visiting Kluge Scholars

The John W. Kluge Center in the Library of Congress has welcomed a new cohort of scholars, who will be in residence during the fall and winter. They will be involved in research, conversations with lawmakers and their staff, as well as in programs for the public.

The scholars are Henry Jenkins, Kathleen Kaveny, Ivan Krastev, Marvin Overby and Adam Rothman. 

Henry Jenkins is the Provost Professor of communication, journalism, cinematic arts and education at the University of Southern California. As one of the first media scholars to chart the changing role of the audience in an environment of increasingly pervasive digital content, Jenkins has been at the forefront of understanding the effects of participatory culture on business, politics and education. At the Kluge Center, he will hold the chair in modern culture. Also, he will participate in a September 28 event at the Library on what Star Wars has to say about American politics and culture.

Cathleen Kaveny, Darald and Juliet Libby Professor at Boston College, focuses on the relationship of law, religion and morality. Kaveny is working on an interdisciplinary project that seeks to map a framework for understanding who is complicit when systemic wrongdoings are taking place. For example, when a multinational corporation supports unjust labor practices in developing countries. At the Kluge Center, Kaveny will hold the Cary and Ann Maguire chair in ethics and American history. 

Ivan Krastev, the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna and a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, writes about populism, foreign policy and liberal democracy. Krastev is also a regular contributor to the New York Times opinion page, commenting on the state of democracy in Europe and in the United States. At the Kluge Center, he will hold the Kissinger chair in foreign policy and international relations.  

Distinguished visiting scholar Marvin Overby is a professor of political science at the University of Missouri. He is a nationally recognized authority on Congress, including the politics surrounding Supreme Court nominations and procedures in the House and Senate. During his time at the Library, he will work on a book about some of the most significant congressional campaigns in the history of American politics.

Distinguished visiting scholar Adam Rothman is a professor of history at Georgetown University, where he teaches about American slavery and its aftermath. An award-winning author, Rothman will explore the Library’s Manuscripts Division in search of letters, journals, diaries and memoirs written by African Americans in the 19^th century.

The Kluge Center’s mission, as established in 2000, is to “reinvigorate the interconnection between thought and action,” bridging the gap between scholarship and policymaking. To that end, the Center brings some of the world’s great thinkers to the Library to make use of its collections and engage in conversations addressing the challenges facing democracies in the 21^st century. For more information about current chairs, visit loc.gov/programs/john-w-kluge-center/chairs-fellowships/.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States – and extensive materials from around the world –  both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.